Name
Frederick Saunders
1889
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
14/03/1917
28
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
21059
The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
2nd Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
QUEENS CEMETERY, BUCQUOY
II. A. 4.
France
Headstone Inscription
IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR SON REST IN THE LORD
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, John Dickinson & Co Memorial, Apsley Mills, Apsley, St Mary's Church Memorial, Apsley End, Family grave (Jane Newton) at Heath Lane Cemetery, Hemel Hempstead,
Pre War
Frederick Saunders (known as Fred) was born in Eaton Bray in 1889, the son of Ebeneezer and Mary Saunders, and one four children. His siblings were Jane, Rose and Albert.
His father died and on the 1891 Census he was living with his widowed mother and siblings at Nelson Square, Eaton Bray, where his mother was a straw plaiter. She remarried in Leighton Buzzard in 1898 to Albert Simons, who was 12 years her junior and they had two children, Arthur and Percy. On the 1901 Census the family were living at Northall Road, Eaton Bray, where his stepfather was working in the lime and stone quarry and Fred was a 12 year old schoolboy. Soon after the Census the family moved to Apsley End, nr Hemel Hempstead and lived at 1 Winifred Road.
When he left school in 1902 Frederick joined John Dickinson & Co Ltd at Apsley Mills in the Book Department where he worked as a Book Binder. His step-brother Albert also worked there, and by 1911 his step-father Albert and sister Jane had joined them. His mother's occupation was given as Church Caretaker, probably at St Mary's at Apsley End, which the family attended.
When he worked at Dickinsons, Fred became a member of the factory band, Dickinson’s Silver Band. He worked at the factory for fourteen years before he was called up.
His sister Jane Newton was living in Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, Herts on the 1911 Census and his mother was living at 1 Winifred Road, Apsley End, Hemel Hempstead, at the time of his death.
Wartime Service
Fred enlisted in Hemel Hempstead on 16 March 1916 and initially joined the Suffolk Regiment, later being transferred to the 2nd Battalion, the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment.
He was with the 2nd Battalion near Bucquoy, north of Albert, France when they were ordered to attack enemy positions in their well fortified trenches with machine gun posts at 25 yard intervals. It had been raining and the ground was extremely muddy, slowing up the advance with very little progress. After two hours, the orders came to withdraw.
Fred was killed in action in France on 14 March 1917 during the attack. He was 28 years old and is buried in Queens Cemetery, Bucquoy, France.
Additional Information
His mother received a war gratuity of £3 and pay owing of £5 7s 9d. She also received a pension of 9 shillings a week. His name is also commemorated on the grave of his sister Jane Newton who died in 1911 aged 29. Brother to Albert who served with the Royal Flying Corps and half brother to Arthur who served with the Hertfordshire Regiment, both of whom survived the war. The surname is sometimes transcribed as Sanders.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, dacorumheritage.or.uk., hemelatwar.org., www.hemelheroes.com.
